Evaporation Technology / Seawater Desalination Group
Head: Dr.-Ing. Heike Glade

Heat transfer as well as the design and integration of heat transfer equipment are centrally important issues in process engineering. In view of growing cost of energy and material as well as steadily increasing demands for efficiency and resource conservation, there has been increased emphasis on the optimal use of energy and efficient heat transfer equipment has become of vital importance. The research focuses on the analysis and optimization of heat transfer processes and the development and application of advanced heat transfer equipment, particularly evaporators, aiming at highly efficient and cost-effective systems which will conserve resources and exhibit high availability and reliability.

An important area of application for heat transfer equipment is desalination of brackish water and seawater. The secure, energy-efficient, environmentally friendly and cost-effective supply of mankind with clean water is one of the biggest challenges in the 21st century. Since the foundation of the Department of Production Engineering in 1982, the Research Group has been working in the field of evaporation technology and desalination with a broad range of activities.

The research and development work comprises modeling and simulation tasks, system analysis, system design and optimization, feasibility studies as well as experimental studies in laboratory, pilot plant and industrial scale. Computer simulation programs have been developed for studying large-scale evaporation plants under varying operating conditions, analyzing system behavior, identifying main process losses and optimizing the systems, subsystems and components.

The group collaborates with national and international partners on the development of innovative energy-efficient heat transfer equipment and desalination systems. The activities comprise fundamental as well as applied research.

Horizontal tube falling film evaporator in pilot plant scale	Modelling of CO2 release in multi-stage flash distillers

Current research interests:

• Analysis and improvement of fluid dynamics and heat transfer
• Investigation of crystallization fouling and improvement of fouling mitigation methods
• Investigation of the effects of heat transfer surface properties and characteristics
• Study of mass transfer coupled with chemical reactions during gas desorption
• Development of heat exchangers with innovative materials, e.g. thermally conductive polymer materials, and surface coatings
• Analysis, development and optimization of thermal and membrane processes for water treatment, especially for desalination, brine concentration and water reuse
• Heat transfer equipment and plant design, development of innovative thermal systems and subsystems
• Investigation of process integration and waste heat utilization
• Optimization of power and water co-generation plants including renewable energies
• Optimization of hybrid plants combining thermal and membrane processes
• Analysis of innovative processes, feasibility studies, techno-economic system analysis
• Design and implementation of pilot plants